Thoughtful Friday No. 34

"What lies within us is incomparably more precious than

what we see outside ourselves"

Teresa of Avila

7 Shirts before breakfast!

Have you ever had that experience where you suddenly find your hubby's wardrobe is bare of work shirts?  Well I confess that this was my experience this week so I thought I had better do something about it quick!!  I set the alarm for an early rise and scurried down in my dressing gown to hit the ironing pile which, for sure, was getting rather out of hand!!  You will tell from this story that ironing is not something I LOVE to do!! And instead of doing it regularly, I do it when I have to mainly because it seems that only two minutes after you have ironed the shirt, blouse, napkin, duvet cover, teatowel, etc etc it is all creased again and I just cannot get excited about spending all that time for such a short return!!  I exaggerate I know!  But I managed 7 shirts before breakfast and the other 10 (!!!) by the end of the day, with a few napkins, and pillow cases thrown in.

On a more crafty note, here is a photo of the next quilt project I am working on.  It is a quilt for daughter no.2 in Uganda.  She picked out the charm pack which is called Portugal and is a delightful colourway - very jolly indeed to work on.  So some squares have been sewn into strips and we will see where we go from here.  

Tuesday Treasures

Meet Agatha and Dorothy!  You may have met them before as certainly Agatha has featured here.  They were carefully and lovingly handcrafted by the wonderfully talented Nicky at Vintage Magpie. I love them to bits and as you can see, if you look carefully, they are sitting in front of some very 'worky' books like the 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' by Stephen Covey (one of my favourite work books) and 'Principle Centred Leadership', also by Covey to name just two.  So they give a delightfully light-hearted feel to what is otherwise a rather serious place - my work desk - and they help to remind me of the other creative part of me that is often bursting to get out amidst all that important, yet not so fulfilling, business stuff.

Thoughtful Friday No. 33

"To grow is to emerge gradually from a land

where our vision is limited"

Jean Vanier

Thoughtful Friday No. 32

"Here are fruits,

flowers,

leaves and branches,

And here is my heart

Which beats only for you."

Paul Verlaine

Tuesday Treasures

I thought I might start a little something on a Tuesday and show some treasures that I have here each time as a way of celebrating them and the joy and meaning that they have in my life.  So you will see above a gorgeous little patchwork bag which was made for me by a very dear friend.  She is someone much older than me, a former teacher and a great crafter.  It has been one of those friendships where you just know that you have a kindred spirit with someone; so much in common on so many levels, it is just pure joy.  Margaret hand quilted this little bag for me with its jolly triangles outside and hearts inside.  I love it very much and it sits on my crafting desk upstairs in our loft bedroom to keep special cards and letters.

As I type Margaret is in hospital having some investigative surgery but is as sprightly and sparkly as ever with her knitting beside her and I hear that she may be home today or tomorrow which is great news.

Then of course there is this

a favourite magazine, this month with a special feature on working from home - how delightful.  I have been working from home now for almost a year and am just beginning to feel the need to evaluate my working space, its location in the house (dining room currently at a corner desk), and what I need around me to inspire me - more light for a start!  So this is a timely feature and one I look forward to reading over the next few days.

I hope your Tuesday has some treasure in it and that you can enjoy savouring it for a moment or two.

Thoughtful Friday No. 31

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that

within me there lay an invincible summer."

Albert Camus

Snowed-in Monday!

This is what we woke up to this morning!  Around 8 inches of snow and still falling as I type at around 10.30am!!  Everything seems to have come to a standstill - there are no buses, trains or even people to be seen!!  Just a few children in the road with their sledges.  Any ideas of travel are out so today will be a stay-at-home day!!  How delightful!  Now where did I put the shovel?